- Matt Hegarty
Colonial Downs plans rich 2019 fall meet to kick off revival
In 2013, Colonial Downs, Virginia’s only Thoroughbred track, went out with a whimper.
In 2019, the track plans to come back with a bang.
Buoyed by new ownership and the prospect of tens of millions of dollars of annual revenue from an exclusive license to operate devices similar to slot machines in the state, the track is planning to hold 15 days of live racing next fall, with the potential to offer as much as $500,000 a day in purses. The next year, the track is planning a 30-day meet stretched over 10 weeks in the fall, with purses of $600,000 a day, which would place Colonial among the top tier of tracks in the U.S. by purse distribution.
